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Mailport: January 2011

Droid Turns Router

Thanks for keeping us updated on marine Wi-Fi options (January 2009 and April 2010). An unexpected benefit of being a Sprint customer recently changed my strategy for connecting to the grid while cruising. After upgrading my cell phone to an Android HTC, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the software includes Sprint Mobile Hot Spot. I can turn the $39/month subscription on and off to match my cruising schedule (down to just a few days of billing) and now have 3G/4G access to the Internet as long as I am within range of a cell tower—that’s a broader coverage area than Wi-Fi.

Turning on the Mobile Hot Spot turns the cell phone into a local router for up to eight devices that can be password controlled. Bandwidth is sufficient to allow large graphic downloads and even video streaming.

Chip LohmanWhispering SwanQuantico, Va.

Your networking capabilities appear similar to the ones used by PS contributor Joe Minick and discussed in this issue (January, 2011).